It's been a century since Josiah and Sarah Moore, their four children and two visiting children were hacked to death with an ax while they slept, and the tiny town where they lived in Iowa has never been the same.

What remains the state's worst mass murder divided the community in 1912 between those who suspected a prominent businessman and others who blamed a traveling preacher or thought it was someone else going through the area. The case was never solved, and in some ways, the mystery still haunts Villisca.

The 100th anniversary of the killings, the multi-year investigation and the uproar they caused will not be officially remembered there, but in Red Oak, a larger city with better meeting space about 25 miles away. That's partly for convenience, but residents say there's also reluctance in Villisca to delve into the killings.

Many are bothered by the tourists and ghost hunters who come to the two-story white frame building dubbed The Villisca Ax Murder House for tours or even to stay overnight.